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Canción para un niño negro

Canción para un niño negro is a Milonga written by Fulvio Salamanca and recorded by Osvaldo Pugliese in 1969. The Milonga Canción para un niño negro is written by Fulvio Salamanca, Osvaldo Pugliese has recorded Canción para un niño negro with the singer Abel Córdoba.
“Canción para un niño negro,” translated as “Song for a Black Child,” evokes a melody of tenderness and resilience. It encapsulates the dreams and struggles of a young soul, illuminating a path forward amidst shadows. The music resonates with hope, embracing the strength and beauty of identity, crafting a poignant narrative that sings to the heart.

Milonga

Style

Osvaldo Pugliese

Orchestra

Abel Córdoba

Singer

Carlos Zein

Author

Fulvio Salamanca

Composer

1969/6/1

Date

Abel Córdoba
Abel Córdoba
Osvaldo Pugliese
Osvaldo Pugliese

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Lyrics Translation of the Milonga Canción para un niño negro

This is the translation of the Milonga “Canción para un niño negro” from Spanish to English. The English lyrics of the Milonga “Canción para un niño negro” have been done with AI.

Letra del Milonga Canción para un niño negro

En una ciudad bonita
Con casas tocando el cielo,
Hay un niño llorando
Llorando con desconsuelo…

Es un niñito negro
Perdido entre rascacielos,
No sabe que allí la gente
Desprecia su piel morena,
Y busca ansiosamente
Que alguno calme su pena…

¡Pobre negrito… adónde irás!

Qué pena me da el desprecio
Que sienten por su negrura,
Si no hay juez que te culpe
Por ser tu piel más oscura.

¡Calla negrito… no llores más…!

English lyrics of the Milonga "Canción para un niño negro"

In a beautiful city
Where houses touch the sky,
There’s a child crying
Crying inconsolably…

It’s a little black boy
Lost among skyscrapers,
Unaware that there people
Scorn his dark skin,
And he desperately searches
For someone to soothe his sorrow…

Poor little black boy… where will you go?

It pains me, the contempt
They feel for his darkness,
If no judge can blame you
For your skin being darker.

Hush little black boy… cry no more…!

Canción para un niño negro by Carlos Zein

Canción para un niño negro is a Tango written by Carlos Zein and composed by Fulvio Salamanca.



Story behind the Tango Canción para un niño negro

The Tango “Canción para un niño negro” (Song for a Black Child) paints a vivid picture of a young black child’s plight within a city ‘so beautiful with houses touching the sky’. This city, while architecturally impressive, hosts a sadder story beneath its grandeur. The child, amidst the towering skyscrapers, feels profoundly isolated and despised because of his skin color. The repeated reference to the child’s desperate crying unveils a profound sense of abandonment and societal rejection.



Symbolism of Canción para un niño negro

The lyrics use buildings ‘touching the sky’ as a symbol contrasting with the child’s lowly and disregarded position. Such imagery conjures the idea of unreachable heights, paralleling the societal barriers imposed by racial discrimination. The phrase “Desprecia su piel morena” (Despises his dark skin) starkly highlights the racial tensions and inherent societal prejudices against darker skin tones. The words “¡Pobre negrito… adónde irás!” and “¡Calla negrito… no llores más…!” evoke a sense of doomed inevitibility and a desperate plea for the child’s sorrow to cease, underscoring the neglect and the societal urge to silence the discomforting truths of racism.



Canción para un niño negro in historic Context

The year of 1969 in Argentina, marked by social and political unrest, provides a backdrop to “Canción para un niño negro,” reflecting the era’s broader racial and societal injustices. During this period, Argentina, much like other parts of the world, was grappling with issues of civil rights and recognition of its multicultural facets. In such a historical context, Zein’s poignant depiction of a black child’s struggle amidst the urban sprawl of modernity and industrial progress reflects wider themes of exclusion and the search for identity and acceptance within the oppressive constructs of race.



Carlos Zein

Carlos Zein was an influential figure in the world of Tango, known for his emotive lyrics and strong themes of social justice and human emotion.